Vermont Homecare Local 4802

05/29/2026

Let's talk about our wins! One at a time. First wages, next time, Bonuses.

A 4% raise to the minimum base pay, meaning no one will be paid less than $16.11 per hour or $257.75 per day, beginning July 1st, 2026, and $16.75 per hour or $268.07 per day by July 1st, 2027, $257.76 per day as of July 1st, 2026, and $268.00 per day as of July 1st, 2027.

Wanna know how we got here? When I started doing this work in 2009, I was paid $9.78 per hour. I know people who started at under $7 in these same programs. We unionized a few years later and those early union members worked their butts off to bring the minimum rate into the 21st century.

In 2023 we fought hardddd to push the state to $20/hour as a minimum base hourly. We testified in front the of the legislator, we made connections, we reviewed minimum wage studies and livable wage studies. The State had their program leaders and lawyers push back, saying it wasn't affordable, and that higher wages wasn't a good use of taxpayer funds. What?! We won a 5% raise, peanuts but still better than what the state initially offered.

This time, we used the same tactics, but we chose a more moderate starting point to ensure we'd still have leverage for improving the Earned Paid Time Off system and other needs. We proposed an $18.00 minimum rate, roughly what our own legislature stated Vermonters need to earn to survive, but far more than what a couple thousand of us still make. The state STILL pushed back. Again, we fought, talking to legislators, the media, our partner network, and our members. In the end, we had to chose between putting all our efforts behind a bigger increase to the base rate, or securing Retention Bonuses, wider access to Earned Paid Time Off, and carving out exemptions to the state's unjust NO CASHOUT rule for your EARNED Paid Time Off.

So, as of July 1st, 2026, no Medicaid-paid independent direct support worker will make less than $16.11 per hour, and that is a BIG DEAL. Stay tuned to hear the details behind Retention Bonuses, EPTO eligibility, and Cash Outs.

05/27/2026

Hey, this is Shannon, a direct support worker. As your union's hardworking Bargaining Committee prepares to release the results of this round of contract negotiations, the full Tentative Agreement, I want to take the opportunity to show you behind the scenes.

Every two years, a Bargaining Committee made up of Vermont homecare workers with support from our AFSCME Union Representative comes together at the end of the summer. We prepare a Bargaining survey and draft a plan. Then we roll that survey out to workers, while engaging with clients, employers, and other stakeholders to get a sense of homecare workers' priorities for the new (successor) contract that we'll be bargaining over. In October we develop proposals for improvements to wages, Earned Paid Time Off, training, protections and whatever else homecare workers tell us to prioritize. To decide how high to set our goals, we consider how engaged our members are, how much leverage we have, and the health of our support network. The more people and power, the higher the goals, the better the pay off!

In November, we step up to the Bargaining Table. Actually, Bargaining happens remotely these days, which mean more homecare workers can join from wherever they happen to be. Interested? We'd LOVE to have you join. This round may be coming to an end but there's always organizing and actions to be done. Message us here or email us at [email protected]

Stay tuned for another look behind the scenes including profiles of our bargaining committee, how to join the effort, and details about our wins are coming soon.

To view our 2024-2026 Collective Bargaining Agreement, click here https://vthomecareunited.org/

05/02/2026

Homecare Workers honored International Workers Day yesterday by joining marches and rallies around the state, speaking truth to power, and working hard to improve the lives of vulnerable Vermonters. We will continue to fight to protect access to overtime pay, paid time off, and humane working conditions. Join the fight! Message us here or by email at [email protected].

04/16/2026

After five months of steadfast Bargaining, we have a tentative agreement! GET READY TO VOTE! This new 2 year contract includes:
- 4% RAISES to the base pay, meaning no one will be paid less than $16.11 per beginning July 1st, 2026, and $16.75 by July 1st, 2027. With similar raises to the Daily base rate.
- RETENTION BONUSES for folks who work 500 between July 1, 2025 and June 30th 2026.
- HUNDREDS OF CAREWORKERS will now have ACCESS TO EPTO who didn't before! Reduced eligibility requirements for Earned Paid Time Off from 18 hours per week to 14 hours per week! WOW!
- EPTO Cash-outs in the event that your employer or client dies. This seems like a no-brainer, but you wouldn't believe how hard we had to fight to get it.

We are ironing out final details with the State of Vermont. I can’t wait to tell you more about it at our monthly member meeting on Monday, 4/20 at 6pm on Zoom. If you're a member in good standing, we’ll send out the this Tentative Agreement and your ballot in the coming weeks.

These are huge wins! Thanks to the bargaining committee, Kate, Heather, Shannon, and Dave!

01/28/2026

***Share your story***
Tomorrow (wednesday) is our last scheduled bargaining session. If the state of Vermont does not come to the table with proposals that our membership can live with, we’ll enter into Mediation and Fact-Finding, where we’ll continue to present our argument for a better future, and a neutral party will work with our two sides to come to an agreement.

To win, we need your stories. Why do better wages and paid time off matter to you? What is it like to go without financial stability while caring for others? Do you receive care? Do you want to see better training, retention, and respect for your workers?

Want to help more? Send us a message, there is lots you can do.

01/21/2026

***Bargaining Update 1/20/26***
Today’s session was scheduled last-minute because the state needed extra time to “crunch numbers” and improve their proposals. Three care-workers rearranged scheduled and sacrificed work hours to join remotely. The state team made some offerings, but not enough, so we are heading to “mediation” and "fact-finding” on Feb 3rd. Read the long-form description coming tomorrow.
***
But first, can you pledge to send an email to Jenney Samuelson, Secretary of the Agency of Human Services, and your state representative to support Vermont Homecare United in this battle for the underdogs? [email protected]
Find your legislator at ttps://legislature.vermont.gov/people/

01/06/2026

*** 1/6 Bargaining Update***
Our team met with the State of Vermont's bargaining team today and were DISSAPOINTED AGAIN. We know homecare workers need AT LEAST an 8% increase in the base rates, but the state offered us 3.75%, which would abandon hundreds of workers at $16.07 or less for another two years.

In prior sessions, many of our proposals were outright dismissed because the state won't take more responsibility for the treatment of these workers or the care of people with disabilities.

The state employees at the bargaining table do not have the authorization to approve improvements to Paid Time Off or Retention Bonuses. They've asked for more time to talk to "the powers that be". Haven't caregivers waited long ENOUGH?

We know bureaucracy gunks up the wheels of progress and that our our government is facing rising costs all around. We know that women, minorities, and people with disabilities, those who these decisions impact the most, are already carrying more than their share of the burden. But why does this disrespect need to be the status quo? Fix our workforce shortage! Help Vermonters find the compassionate, capable care we all deserve! Lift care workers out of poverty!

***Tell your State Legislators, Secretary of the Agency of Human Services Jenney Samuelson at 802-241-0440, or Governor Phil Scott at 802-828-3333, that you support AFSME 4802, raising the base pay to $18/hour for Independent Direct Support Providers, expanding paid time off to all workers, and keeping retention bonuses.

We'll be back at the negotiating table on Tuesday 1/20. Hopefully at that time, "the powers that be" will have taken the time to consider how essential homecare workers are to our communities and economy, and their representatives will have substantive improvements to actually bargain about.

Want to learn more or join or negotiating team? Leave a comment and we'll follow up!

10/26/2025

Care workers, do you love your job? Tell us why! Do you struggle to get paid on time or to get the support you need? We want to hear that too! Write a post or send a private message. We are looking for stories to share in our bargaining sessions, which start Tuesday!

10/23/2025

The truth about Homecare workers.

And a shout out to the amazing crew at Community Resources in Olympia Washington for reposting this so I could too!

People often tell me, “You must have so much patience to do that kind of work.” They say it with a soft voice and a little head tilt. I know they mean it as a compliment, but they’ve got it wrong.

Patience is what you use when you’re waiting in line at the supermarket and the person ahead of you is paying in pennies. Patience is what you summon when your Wi-Fi goes down. Patience is about waiting for something to end.

Support work isn’t about waiting. It’s about being, being present, being responsive, being humble enough to realize that you’re not the main character in someone else’s story.

The idea that good support work is rooted in patience sells both the worker and the person they support short. It makes it sound like we’re enduring something, like the person with a disability is a test of our goodness.

The best support workers I’ve met don’t have halos of patience hovering over their heads. They have skills. They know how to listen beyond words. They notice tiny details, a shift in tone, a glance, a pause... and they adjust. They can turn frustration into collaboration. They know how to make space for someone’s independence without stepping in to “fix” everything.

Patience says, “I’ll wait for you to catch up.”
Good support says, “I’ll walk with you, at your pace, and learn the rhythm of your stride.”

So no, disability support work doesn’t take patience. It takes respect. It takes skill.
..

ID: Image shows a support worker pushing a lady who is sat in her wheelchair. A speech bubble from outside the image reads: You must be so patient! The disabled lady responds by saying: Thank you. Yes I am.

10/23/2025

A history lesson. How have care workers been systematically pushed into the shadows, excluded from the rooms where decisions are made, and abandoned when we needed protection? It’s been going on for a long time… and was solidified when we were left out of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), when most other industries leapt towards fairness. We MUST unite to get what workers, and the people we care for, need. https://www.dwherstories.com/timeline/excluded-from-labor-protections #

This timeline on the history of domestic work and worker organizing in the U.S. is a resource to study history from the margins, learn from the courage and resilience of our movement ancestors, and continue to build a powerful, multiracial alliance grounded in a shared commitment to combating all fo...